Box Score Butler, Pa. - Friday's PSAC Semifinal game between Millersville and Mercyhurst played out like a heavyweight fight, and Dan Johnson delivered the knockout blow for the Marauders. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Johnson lined the first pitch he saw into left-center field, giving Millersville a 7-6 win and a berth in the PSAC Championship game for the first time since 1998.

The walk-off win is becoming a habit for the No. 23 Marauders (37-13), who received an 11th-inning sacrifice fly from Zach Stone just one day earlier. Millersville has now won 10 of its last 11 games and improved to 10-2 in one-run games. The win was Millersville's first PSAC Tournament win over Mercyhurst (29-13) as the Lakers had ousted the Marauders in both 2011 and 2012. Millersville now takes aim at its fourth PSAC Tournament Championship (fifth all-time) and will play the winner between Kutztown and Pitt-Johnstown Saturday at 12 p.m.

Seniors Johnson and Stone powered the Marauder lineup with two RBIs apiece, and their back-to-back RBIs in the seventh erased a 6-4 deficit and put the Marauders in line for the ninth inning victory.

The teams traded punches throughout as Millersville jumped in front 2-0 in the fourth on a balk and a Kurt Seiders two-out RBI single. Mercyhurst retaliated with four runs in the top of the fifth using three hits, three hit-by-pitches, a wild pitch and a walk. But the Marauders responded in the very next inning when Chas McCormick doubled off the base of the left field wall, bringing home Dan Neff. Stone retied the game at 4-4 with a liner into left field that allowed McCormick to spring home from second.

In the sixth, Mercyhurst received a two-run double from Anthony Tomasone to take a 6-4 lead. But again, the Marauders answered the bell. Neff led off the seventh with a walk, and with two outs, Stone fought off a two-strike pitch and hit a chopper to the shortstop. Stone beat out the throw at first base and Neff crossed to cut Mercyhurt's lead to 6-5. Then it was Johnson's turn. Johnson belted a double into left-center field, and Stone, moving on contact, churned his way home from first base.

The back end of Millersville's bullpen, Matt Binder and Adam Zipko, were dominant for a second consecutive game. Binder blanked the Lakers in the seventh, and Zipko tore through the Laker lineup in the eighth and ninth.

McCormick jump-started Millersville's ninth inning with a single up the middle. Tyler Orris followed with a single into left, bringing Stone to the plate. Stone bounced up the middle where second baseman Angel Martinez made a diving stop and flipped it to the shortstop for the force out. The ball, however, was dropped, loading the bases for Johnson. Joe Gnacinski's (5-2) first offering to Johnson was ripped into right field, and McCormick coasted into the plate for the winning run.

McCormick, Orris, Stone and Johnson--the top four hitters in Millersville's lineup--combined for 10 of Millersville's 12 hits. In addition to his two RBIs, Stone also scored two runs, giving him a hand in seven of Millersville's nine runs in the PSAC Tournament. Stone extended his hitting streak to 15 games in which he has nine multi-hit games. Orris has had three hits in both games.

Zipko improved to 7-0 on the season and has earned the win in both PSAC Tournament games. In his two postseason appearances, he has struck out four and allowed one hit in five innings. Zipko has struck out 13 while allowing no runs and three hits over his last 12 innings. In 13 career postseason appearances spanning 21.1 innings, Zipko has allowed just one earned run from an ERA of 0.43.

While the Marauders are in the midst of their fourth consecutive PSAC Tournament appearance, the last trip to the title game came in 1998 when the Marauders beat Slippery Rock, 2-1. Millersville also won tournament titles in 1974 and 1975. The tournament at that time was a best-of-three series.

Fans can listen to Saturday's championship game live on MSBN.